Made in the USA
Popular products, plenty of choices. Now it's even easier to buy American
More shoppers, led by consumers 50-plus, are buying American.
"Made in China." Those are words you won't see in shops like
Norton's U.S.A. in Barrington, Ill., and Made in America in Elma, N.Y.
The expanding shelves at these stores are stocked only with
U.S.-produced products, from clothing to cleaning supplies. And more
consumers are hankering for these goods,
a movement driven by older
shoppers and entrepreneurs.
Seventy-two percent of consumers 50 through 64 say "Made in the USA"
labeling significantly influences their purchases, according to
Perception Research Services International. And 81 percent of people 50
through 64 buy American because they believe it helps the economy, the
same survey found.
Store owners agree. "I wanted to highlight the companies that kept their factories here in the U.S.."
explains Norton's U.S.A. owner Deborah Leydig, 59, whose product
offering has jumped from just 80 items in 2007 to nearly 2,000 now
(including everything from lightbulbs to glassware).
Certain foreign
goods can cost less due to cheaper labor, but as Leydig explains,
"My
customers really want to buy American, so they will pay more if they
have to,
and of course they get the American-made quality as well."
